FERNANDO VII OF SPAIN: BIOGRAPHY - HISTORY - 2024

Fernando VII of Spain was one of the most influential and controversial kings in Spanish history. He reigned during the time of the Napoleonic wars, establishing a Spanish resistance against the French invasion and also opposing internal conflicts with liberal groups seeking to establish a constitutional monarchy.

Part of his reign was dethroned by the occupation of Napoleon Bonaparte, which caused strong differences in power between liberals and conservatives. However, during the French occupation the Spanish people were openly against Napoleon Bonaparte.

Biography

the beginning

Fernando was born on October 14, 1784. His father was Carlos IV, heir to the throne of Spain; his mother was María Luisa de Parma, who was really the voice in command behind the decisions of Carlos IV.

When Charles IV inherited the throne, his mother helped an army lieutenant (with whom she was in love) rise to power. This lieutenant was Manuel de Godoy who, with the help of María Luisa herself, quickly rose to positions of power in Spain. In fact, Godoy became practically the ruling dictator of Spain.

María Luisa de Parma, mother of Fernando VII

Fernando VII's tutor, Juan Escóiquiz, was a quite ambitious man and he instilled in him a deep hatred towards Godoy from an early age. It is said that the education of Fernando VII was quite poor, even among the worst that a Spanish monarch has received in history. He was not a studious young man, he hated to talk and took pleasure in performing cruel acts.

In 1802 he married his first wife, his cousin Marie Antoinette of Naples. The marriage was not very successful, as Fernando himself acted as if they were not married and had little interest in the affairs of the home. For this reason he earned the hatred of Marie Antoinette's mother.

End of the Godoy dictatorship

Although Fernando's marriage to Marie Antoinette was unproductive in terms of their relationship, the wife got on perfectly with Fernando's tutor.

By this time, Godoy's popularity was on the ground thanks to the great debt that Spain owed as a result of the war with the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the powers of the Church had diminished, which caused great resentment on the part of the Spanish wealthy class.

Manuel de Godoy

María Antonieta and Escóiquiz formed a political alliance to overthrow Godoy. This caused the exile of the tutor; Furthermore, Carlos IV arrested his son, thinking that this was part of the plot. After asking for mercy, he was released. However, the plan to overthrow Godoy continued.

In 1808 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain to end the rule of the Bourbon kings. Fernando VII saw this as the perfect opportunity to arrest the dictator Godoy, thinking that the French troops would support him.

On March 23 he overthrew the dictator and his father - a coward by nature - left the post of king to leave it to his son.

French reign

Bonaparte's forces had not come to Spain to support Ferdinand VII at all, but he maintained the illusion that this was so until he had no choice but to change his mind.

During the period of French occupation, the Liberals wrote the Constitution of 1812, which greatly limited the powers of the king.

After Godoy's arrest, Napoleon invited him to Bayonne to meet him. His advisers warned him not to go, but he decided to go anyway. There, the French emperor asked him to leave the throne. When Fernando refused, Napoleon threatened him with death.

Fernando VII, scared, abandoned the throne and went into exile; José I (Napoleon's brother) was left as King of Spain. However, the Spanish resistance to the French occupation was so strong that in 1814 Napoleon withdrew his troops and allowed Ferdinand VII to return to the country.

Fight with the Liberals

After his return to power, Fernando VII marched towards Madrid with the support of the army. He annulled the Constitution of 1812 and began a systematic persecution against the Liberals, who wanted to limit their powers with a constitutional monarchy.

While organizing to end liberal resistance, he also prepared an army to send to the New World, where most of the emerging republics had taken advantage of the French invasion of Spain to start the wars of independence.

However, in 1820 an important army general named Rafael Riego proclaimed himself in favor of the Constitution. This caused panic in Fernando VII, who agreed to accept it. The king was practically imprisoned, with the liberals in command of the country.

The liberal stage was so poor that, a few years after the establishment of the constitutional monarchy, the French intervened to restore Fernando VII to power.

Return to power and last years

When he regained the throne, Fernando VII had promised amnesty for the liberals who rose up against him. He did not keep his promise and shortly after his return most of the Liberals were living in exile or in prison. However, as the years passed, he let them return to Spain.

He had two more marriages, which produced no children, until he married his fourth wife. With her he had his only heir, Isabel II.

The return of the liberals upset the conservative groups that supported Fernando VII, and they began to support his brother Carlos to take over the throne of Spain. The Liberals stayed on the side of Fernando VII and his daughter Isabel II, who was to inherit the throne.

Fernando VII died on September 29, 1833, leaving his daughter as the new queen and the liberals, whom he had persecuted so much, in charge of the government of Spain. The differences between Carlos and Spain caused the beginning of the first Carlist War.

References

1. Ferdinand VII - King of Spain, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, (nd). Taken from Britannica.com
2. Ferdinand VII, Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004. Taken from encyclopedia.com
3. Ferdinand (Fernando) VII of Spain, General History, 2014. Taken from general-history.com
4. The Absolutism Restoration Process of Ferdinand VII, Ministry of Culture and Education of Spain, (nd). Taken from mcu.es
5. Ferdinand VII of Spain, Wikipedia in English, April 6, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org